Current weather

Educators argue over reading program's success

Posted: Friday, August 18, 2000

By Shannon Womble and Faith JohnsonStaff Writers

ATLANTA -- A $13 million reading program created in response to Georgia's low vocabulary and reading comprehension scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills hasn't resulted in consistent improvement in test performance, but educators say the ITBS doesn't evaluate the program fairly.

While almost every educator agrees the Reading First program should be evaluated, some said the curriculum deserves to be measured on its own merits.

Reading First provides three hours of reading instruction a day, and focuses on phonics and practical reading exercises. Standardized tests, like the ITBS used by Georgia, don't test phonics or student writing -- both major components of Reading First.

''They need to come in for an observation of students reading, like site visits, with a real checklist that they can use to observe children applying the strategies that have been taught to them,'' said Lesley Taylor, a second-grade teacher and leader of Reading First at Spencer Elementary School in Savannah.

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills reading comprehension and vocabulary scores of schools participating in the intensive reading program were presented to the state Board of Education, at its request, last week.

Though state School Superintendent Linda Schrenko touts the program as one of her most successful initiatives, the test results of third-graders in schools with the program don't produce strong support for her claims.

For example, two of the three Clarke County schools in the program also reported declining scores in at least one of the two reading areas after starting Reading First. In Chatham County, three of seven elementary schools in the program showed improvement in vocabulary or comprehension scores after their first year, but lost ground the second year.

Statewide, only 28 percent of schools participating in the program for two years showed increased standardized test scores in both vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Schrenko said the results aren't an accurate reflection of the program because the ITBS doesn't properly evaluate the principles taught in the program.

Also, the scores given to the board didn't reflect whether the program was implemented throughout the school or only in isolated grades, she said.

Reading First, currently in more than 600 schools, targets kindergartners through third grade students.

A more comprehensive review of the program, which has been a year in the making, will be presented to the state Board of Education in September.

Carol Rountree, director of guidance and testing for Richmond County Schools, said the program hasn't been running long enough to draw accurate conclusions about success.

''To make a reliable analysis, you need to track specific students and look at their growth over a period of years,'' Rountree said.

An education expert from Athens agreed that standardized tests aren't the best way to assess Reading First.

''The ITBS is a general measure, so using it to try to evaluate Reading First is like trying to diagnose cancer with a thermometer,'' said Steven Stahl, professor of reading education at the University of Georgia and co-director of the Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement.

Atlanta bureau reporters Shannon Womble and Faith Johnson can be reached at mnews@mindspring.com or (404) 589-8424.